International

DR Congo volcano aftershocks rattle residents, damage buildings

GOMA, DR Congo (AFP) — Aftershocks from the Mount Nyiragongo volcano in eastern DR Congo rattled the nearby city of Goma on Wednesday, four days after its eruption, badly damaging several buildings and prompting hundreds of residents to flee and the UN to relocate some of its staff. The tremors were felt throughout the night. Two powerful shocks from Africa’s most active volcano caused terrified people to run out of their homes. The seismic monitoring […]

Three dead as Japan fishing boat collides with Russia ship

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A Japanese fishing boat collided with a Russian ship off the northern island of Hokkaido on Wednesday, killing three crew members, Tokyo said. Japan’s coast guard was informed that five crew members from the fishing boat were recovered by a Russian cargo ship, government spokesman Katsunobu Kato told reporters. “We have been told that three were confirmed dead, while the remaining two suffered non-life-threatening injuries,” he added. Japan and Russia are […]

Cyclone batters eastern India, 1.2 million seek shelter

by Dibyangshu SARKAR DIGHA, India (AFP) — Heavy rains and howling winds lashed eastern India on Wednesday as the Covid-stricken country’s second cyclone in as many weeks battered the coast, forcing more than 1.2 million people to seek shelter. Many scientists say cyclones are becoming more frequent and severe in the northern Indian Ocean as climate change warms the sea. Last week Cyclone Tauktae claimed at least 155 lives in western India. The latest system, […]

Italy hails capture of top mafia boss in Brazil

by Alexandria SAGE with Jordi MIRO in Brasilia ROME, Italy (AFP) — Italian prosecutors and police on Tuesday cheered the capture in Brazil of a leading mafia boss who has skirted justice in Italy for nearly 30 years. Rocco Morabito, number two on the Italian interior ministry’s most dangerous fugitives list, was arrested Monday in northeast Brazil. His capture came almost two years after his audacious escape from a prison in Uruguay, where he was […]

‘World’s leading bank robbers’: North Korea’s hacker army

by Sunghee Hwang SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Nuclear-armed North Korea is advancing on the front lines of cyberwarfare, analysts say, stealing billions of dollars and presenting a clearer and more present danger than its banned weapons programmes. Pyongyang is under multiple international sanctions over its atomic bomb and ballistic missile programmes, which have seen rapid progress under North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. But while the world’s diplomatic focus has been on its nuclear […]

Indian Covid-19 variant found in at least 53 territories: WHO

by Robin MILLARD GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The coronavirus variant first detected in India has now been officially recorded in 53 territories, a World Health Organization report showed Wednesday. Additionally, the WHO has received information from unofficial sources that the B.1.617 variant has been found in seven other territories, figures in the UN health agency’s weekly epidemiological update showed, taking the total to 60. The report said B.1.617 had shown increased transmissibility, while disease severity […]

Chilean Jesuits recognize 64 cases of sexual abuse

  SANTIAGO, Chile (AFP) — The Jesuit congregation of Chile has acknowledged that its priests sexually abused 64 people, including 34 children, between 2005 and 2020, according to a report from the Catholic order obtained by AFP Tuesday. Eleven Jesuit priests were found guilty following an internal investigation of “abusive situations with a sexual connotation” involving underage victims, according to the report by the Society of Jesus, known colloquially as the Jesuits. Of the perpetrators, […]

Deadly Italy cable car crash probed as child fights for life

by Franceso Gilioli with Alexandria Sage in Rome STRESA, Italy (AFP) — Investigators were on Monday probing the causes of a horrific cable car crash in the Italian mountains that left 14 people dead and a five-year-old child as the sole survivor. The boy, who lost his parents, grandparents and two-year-old sibling in Sunday’s accident, was hospitalized in a critical condition, but there were hopes for his recovery. “He is still under intensive care, intubated […]

Cholera kills 20 in northern Nigeria

KANO, Nigeria (AFP) — A cholera outbreak in northern Nigeria has killed at least 20 people in the past two weeks with more than 300 hospitalized from the disease, a health official said Tuesday. Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producer, suffers from a high rate of water-borne diseases as a result of dilapidated infrastructure and under-investment. The latest outbreak in Bauchi state was reported in nine districts, with the state capital Bauchi worst hit, Mohammed Maigoro, […]

Half of US adults fully vaccinated against Covid: W.House

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Half of all US adults have now received full Covid-19 vaccines, the White House said Tuesday, marking another huge milestone in the fight against the pandemic. “Now 50% of all American adults are fully vaccinated,” tweeted Cyrus Shahpar, Covid-19 data director for the White House. That means half the adult population has received either two doses of the Moderna or Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines, or one of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson. […]

EU summit welcomes Covid certificate to unlock travel

by Marc BURLEIGH BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — EU leaders on Tuesday welcomed the introduction of a bloc-wide Covid-19 pass that they hope will unlock a tourist surge this summer. The 27 member states want the EU Digital Covid Certificate, to be launched July 1, to turn the page on coronavirus restrictions that have crimped Europeans’ cherished freedom of movement. Coupled with a separate plan to let in fully vaccinated travelers from countries outside the EU, […]